Improvement in coffins



F. H. HILL.

COFFINS.

. No. 178,526. Patented 'June 13, 1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS H. HILL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS 'A RIGHT TO MORTIMER GOFF, OF SAME PLACE.

INIPROVE'MEN'I' IN COFFINS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l 78,526. dated June 13, 1876; application filed January 28, 1,876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. HILL, of Chicago, in the county ot' Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Coftins, which is fully described in the following specification, reference being had to the aceompan ying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a bottom view ot' one end of the cofn; Fig. 2, a side View of the same; Fig. 3, an end view, and Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the rounded corner and iron molding.

My invention relates particularly to cofns having oval ends; and consists in filling the gaps in the ordinary molding at the corners of the Cottin with metallic strips, which are depressed, so that their ends rest against the sides of the casket andl the dovetailed end piece, so as to brace the joint, and at the same time continue the ornamental appearanceof the molding.

In order to make an attractive, and at the same time a strong, burial-casket, I make the ends ofthe casket of separate pieces. The

' bottom rail isl made of three pieces, A B C,

pieces of wood. It is necessary to make it of a short piece, in order to have it recessed or depressed from the rest of the molding.

F F are metal corner-pieces in the lid or top ofthe coffin, and they are secured in place by the joints, and the angle-irons G G extend across beneath them, and are secured byscrews inv the black-walnut part of the lid. These metal corner-pieces can be cast in shape adapted to the size of the casket, and be cast cheaper'than they` can be made of black walnut; and I also continue the recessedcorner of the casket by depressing these metallic cornerpieces below the blackwalnut side and end pieces.

I am thus enabled to make a very ornamental and attractive casket, and make it very strong, durable, and with less expense than a similar class ot' caskets have before been made.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as4 new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a burial casket, the combination of the corner-pieces A, B, and C, dovetailed together, as described, and the metallic moldingstrips D, ttted in the gaps at the corners in the ordinary molding, and depressed so that 4the ends rest against the edges ot the pieces 

